On the basis of that, they seem to have decided that the best overall quality is from A Tailored Suit, but you pay more and you have to wait longer. Alexander West was their favorite 'shopping experience', and seems to produce great if flashy shirts, but they describe the collars as being so stiff they are like a handcuff! However, their favorite shirt came from Deo Veritas. And much cheaper and quicker than either of the first two.

Cottonwork now has an "essentials" line for $40. You could start there and begin to get your measurements down. Then step up to the better fabrics after a few shirts when you feel good about the finished product matching what you want.

-1 Totally backwards. A good tailor can easily alter sleeve length AND width. Much less can be done for collar and yoke!
If you like OTR, verify fabric quality, collar, and yoke in person then take it to a good tailor to have the body and/or sleeves trimmed down. Much more economical IMHO.

You can't lengthen sleeves, or make them wider. You can replace a collar, or at least cut the point away.

-1 Totally backwards. A good tailor can easily alter sleeve length AND width. Much less can be done for collar and yoke!
If you like OTR, verify fabric quality, collar, and yoke in person then take it to a good tailor to have the body and/or sleeves trimmed down. Much more economical IMHO.

True, if the sleeves are too long. I was thinking of sleeves that are too short - sorry, should have specified that.

OP - you could also buy a MTM from a brick and mortar local guy (probably run you around $150) then use that to send to companies like Blank Label. They'll copy it to get your measurements and send it back for free. I can't compare their quality to Indochino or Proper Cloth, but I've been enjoying their shirts for a while now.

The guy's telling you to start with a custom shirt from a local clothier are right. Listen to them. It'll cost you around $150 but it's totally worth it. Most of the online MTMs will even let you ship them that shirt and copy its measurements.

I had two shirts made for me by Neronote a couple of months ago. When I received the shirts the first time around, the cuffs were way too small and the arms on one were way too long. I was able to return it (they paid for the shipping) and they sent me two new shirts about a month later.

I could tell that these new shirts were not just altered versions of the earlier shirts, because the earlier shirts had a slightly more comfortable fit in the shoulders and chest. In these new shirts the cuffs and arms were right, but the body (except the cuffs and collar) was made to my exact measurements. This a bit of a problem when working with 100% cotton, which shrinks. I had myself measured by my local tailor who measured me according to neronotes directions. I entered the exact measurements since their website says:

“All fabrics used to make shirts tend to shrink slightly after the first 7 / 8 washes. This is taken into account during the making of your shirt, which will give the impression of a slightly looser, comfortable fit when new.”

Unfortunately, this was not taken into account during the making. While the shirts fit snugly when I first received them (I got regular close fit), they are now too small after one wash at 40 degrees C and being hung dry. Their customer service representative informed me that they generally cut the shirts exactly to measure and do not take shrinkage into account when making the shirts. He suggested that I add cm to the measurements in my future orders.

And also, the tag with the company name fell off after the first wash.

All in all, I thought that the craftsmanship was good, tag notwithstanding. Their pre-sales customer service was great (they helped me pick good fabrics from their huge list), and some of their post-sales customer service was also good (the first return).